Shuffleboard, pickleball, a covered picnic table, a bocce court and a putting green are all part of a “age-friendly” park being proposed for the corner of Stittsville Main Street between Hazeldean Road and Neil Avenue.
Think of it as a playground for seniors. The park would be adjacent to the new Hazeldean Gardens retirement home, surrounding the existing “Welcome to Stittsville” sign.
According to Councillor Shad Qadri, the budget to build the park is $114,881, which would come from Stittsville’s cash in lieu of parkland (CIL) fund.
For new developments in the City of Ottawa, developers have the option to either build a park, or pay the City of Ottawa a “cash in lieu” amount instead. The amount paid gets split 60%-40% between the local ward and the city at large, and can be used at the councillor’s discretion towards building and maintaining parks and equipment.
In the case of the Hazeldean Gardens at 6130 Hazeldean Road, their CIL assessment was $64,881. The other $50,000 for the project will come from CIL money assessed from previous developments in Stittsville ward.
(CIL funding was used for a $105,000 gazebo at Village Square Park late last year, and was used last year to fund a splash pad in Jackson Trails.)
“The property will remain City property and the developer has committed to continue their partnership by establishing a lending process for members of the public to borrow the required equipment for some of the activity areas being planned. Construction is anticipated to be completed by Fall 2017 and made available to residents for Spring 2018,” wrote Qadri in his weekly newsletter.
“Age friendly improvements to the green space road allowance will serve all members of the community and will include amenities suitable for a broad range of age-groups, abilities and interests, and will complement the existing park amenities in the Stittsville park and green space network,” he wrote.
Qadri and city planners are asking residents to send any comments on the proposal before March 10. You can email Qadri at Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca or planner Jennifer Hemmings at Jennifer.Hemmings@ottawa.ca.